Present progressive
The present progressive tense (also called the present continuous tense) is used for ongoing actions.
- I am playing baseball.
- Ken is writing a book.
Challenges for students
In Japanese, the verb conjugates into the progressive form ("tabe-ru" becomes "tabe-teiru"). In English, the verb conjugates into the progressive ("play" becomes "play-ing"), and a helping verb is added as well. This can be confusing.
Additionally, in English, we have words like "playing" that are sometimes present continuous ("I am playing soccer.") and sometimes direct objects ("I like playing soccer."). This can be confusing.
A good consolidation for this grammar point is to review the Present Negative. The students will remember using the negative form of the verb "to do" in order to make all other verbs negative. In the Present Progressive, we use the verb "to be" to make all other verbs negative.
